NBC's EveryBlock Experiment Folds

The hyperlocal news network EveryBlock, owned and operated by NBC News, is shutting down operations, per a post on the site's company blog.

Founded in 2007 and acquired by MSNBC.com in 2009, EveryBlock covered a span of 19 different cities, providing a discussion-based site that tried to target neighborhood news such as crime reports and restaurant reviews down to the city block level. MSNBC acquired the site only two months after AOL bought Patch, during a time of local newspaper contraction where many felt hyperlocal Web-based news might be able to fill the gaps in neighborhood coverage. The site never truly got off the ground though, with Quantcast estimated traffic figures hovering somewhere around only 90,000 visitors per month.

In the EveryBlock blog post the staff writes, "It’s no secret that the news industry is in the midst of a massive change. Within the world of neighborhood news there’s an exciting pace of innovation yet increasing challenges to building a profitable business. Though EveryBlock has been able to build an engaged community over the years, we’re faced with the decision to wrap things up."

The hyperlocal news network EveryBlock, owned and operated by NBC News, is shutting down operations, per a post on the site's company blog.

Founded in 2007 and acquired by MSNBC.com in 2009, EveryBlock covered a span of 19 different cities, providing a discussion-based site that tried to target neighborhood news such as crime reports and restaurant reviews down to the city block level. MSNBC acquired the site only two months after AOL bought Patch, during a time of local newspaper contraction where many felt hyperlocal Web-based news might be able to fill the gaps in neighborhood coverage. The site never truly got off the ground though, with Quantcast estimated traffic figures hovering somewhere around only 90,000 visitors per month.

In the EveryBlock blog post the staff writes, "It’s no secret that the news industry is in the midst of a massive change. Within the world of neighborhood news there’s an exciting pace of innovation yet increasing challenges to building a profitable business. Though EveryBlock has been able to build an engaged community over the years, we’re faced with the decision to wrap things up."